NOS Pres for a DSL40CR

[tonejones]

Hey guys (it's been awhile),

Hope everyone is doing great!

I've got a friend (the other guitarist in my band) I want to do something for.

His 17 yr old son went through open heart surgery 2 weeks ago. There were complications and he didn't get to go home until about a week later. He was only home a few days when complications came back and now he's in the hospital again.

I can't imagine the kind of stress and worry he's enduring right now.

So my idea to lift his spirits a little is to surprise him by throwing a couple nos or used os pre tubes in his combo.

He's got a DSL40CR the revamped version that came out a couple years ago. I know the amp's been revoiced but I'm not sure exactly what pre would open up it's world. Seems from what I've heard in practice the revoicing has made it much darker sounding, has alot more lower mids than before which kinda leaves it sounding a bit muddy, but that could be the stock speaker too. You guys might have a different take on it.

He is a classic rock Marshall Ace Frehley fan all the way and plays strats: mostly HSS.

So what pre would wake this amp up in v1 and possibly the PI slot?

Thanks ahead of time and I look forward to your responses.

Tonejones

[danman]

I don't have first hand experience with a DSL 40 but for other Marshall circuits, a Phillips manufactured tube such as a "Miniwatt" or "Bugleboy" will definitely open up the high end a bit. The Raytheon blackplates also offer a bit of extra clarity. If you are able to do it, I would roll a few different tubes through the preamp slots and see which ones sound the best as every circuit is a bit different.

[tonejones]

I had been thinking about either an Amperex/Phillips or a Sylvania.

[danman]

I forgot about the Sylvanias. They definitely have a different sound in the mid range that can work well in some of these circuits.

[tonejones]

He's also a huge VH fan (but who isn't?), si I automatically thought of Sylvanias.

Has anybody heard anything from TubeTramp?
Emailed him a couple weeks back, hope he's alright.

[danman]

It's been years since I have seen him mentioned on any of the forums. Not sure if he is still selling or not. There are a couple of fellows on "The Gear Page" that have some nice preamp tubes for sale at the moment. Here are just a couple of the listings.
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... s.2248012/
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... 7.2249996/